Listening To CHART Operations

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Mr_Boh

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How do the CHART trucks communicate on the limited access highways? Do they share talkgroups / frequencies with SHA or do they have their own channels? I see Montgomery County has a dedicated talkgroup for them, but I figured they would have their own talkgroups on FiRST.

Of course, the follow-up question is, are they worth listening to if you are trying to avoid traffic (other than using Waze of couse)?

Thanks!
 

ThePhotoGuy

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CHART is active in certain areas in the state on FiRST. They operate on the District Talkgroups on the FiRST System.

7241 District 1 (Active on FIRST)
7242 District 2 (Active on FIRST)
7288 District 3 (Recently heard one or two units active on this. Not everyday though.)
7289 District 4 (Active on FIRST)
7290 District 5 (Active on FIRST)
7291 District 6 (Not active on FiRST since these sites are not up yet.)
7292 District 7 (Active on FIRST)

Radio activity can be extremely busy, especially on District 4, 5, & 7. I actually have them "locked-out" on the radio since during rush hour times they are extremely busy and tie up the radio.
 

troymail

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CHART has had channels/talkgroups on local/county (and other) systems for some time now. As FiRST rolls out, they are either moving to or being patched onto FiRST.

Since becoming active on FiRST, it's not unusual for me to hear CHART activity from Ocean City to north of Hagerstown - I assume since the State Operations Center is only a few miles from me in Anne Arundel County. It's also interesting to hear them provide traffic reports from Annapolis (Rt 50) to the Rt 50 bridge in Ocean City during the summer when in Worcester County - particularly on weekends (for obvious reasons).
 

riveter

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How do the CHART trucks communicate on the limited access highways? Do they share talkgroups / frequencies with SHA or do they have their own channels? I see Montgomery County has a dedicated talkgroup for them, but I figured they would have their own talkgroups on FiRST.

Of course, the follow-up question is, are they worth listening to if you are trying to avoid traffic (other than using Waze of couse)?

Thanks!

Just to clarify administratively, CHART is part of SHA. By frequency of use, they're the primary users of the SHA District radio nets.
 

maus92

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Gotcha. So I take that to mean on top of listening to CHART I will have to listen to it intermixed with discussions of mowing operations, road repair, etc..?

Possibly, but the individual SHA shops also have their own TGs for more localized operations. The district TGs are more regional in nature, so less mowing - but maybe more plowing? IDK, I cannot stand listening to SHA users - undisciplined comms.
 

riveter

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Gotcha. So I take that to mean on top of listening to CHART I will have to listen to it intermixed with discussions of mowing operations, road repair, etc..?

No. The simple silly shop stuff goes on on the shop channels. The District channels actually maintain some semblance of comms discipline, though it's not perfect... and it's nearly all CHART operations, with just a little bit of District offices calling on the air and off the air. You really hear barely anything else on District.
 
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